NEWS UPDATE MAY 2006
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Thank you for your continued support of our
work. It is hard to believe we are almost half
way through 2006. There are some exciting new
developments so let me share them with you.
ALBANIA - summer camps
Thank you if you have already responded to support
children at summer camps this year. The schedule
is quite full so our Albanian team is busy getting
the Centre ready for a busy summer. Rachel Edwards
is going to be in Albania heading up the programme
assisted in the evenings by Rachel Wilson who
will present life principles to the children in
her usual interesting & fun way. We plan to
have 10 weeks of camp activity this year. 1000’s
of children have enjoyed camp over the past years.
If you have not yet sponsored a child
this year can I invite you to do so?
A sponsorship leaflet is enclosed – or you
could pass it to a friend.
ALBANIA – BayWatch
Rachel Wilson continues her children’s work
in Shengjin, a small coastal town just 10 minutes
from the LightForce International Centre in Ishull
Lezhe. This includes children’s church,
computer and English classes.
Shengjin beach is over two miles long. Rachel
has conducted beach activity for children over
a number of years. Each year many tourists die
for lack of qualified Lifeguards. Last year
some of Rachel’s visitors witnessed a
man being dragged from the sea and then his
rescuers stand and watch him die for lack of
knowing how to help him. Rachel and her team
decided to do something. With medical staff
from the UK she is working in partnership with
the local government to train and sponsor 10
Lifeguards to staff the beach for the summer
holiday period. The Ministry of Tourism is watching
closely with a view to applying it nationally
in 2007.
ALBANIA – Police
Over the years we have enjoyed good relations
with the Albanian police. On two occasions we
have provided ambulances that have served their
special forces in medical emergencies and also
functioned as surveillance vehicles.
George Ridley met with representatives of the
Albanian anti-terrorism branch recently. They
were asking if LightForce International knew
of Police forces in the UK who could assist
by providing surplus surveillance equipment.
They need more ambulances also. If you have
any contacts who could help please get in touch
with us. We have a formal written request.
MONEY FROM RECYCLING – mobile fones, printer
cartridges…etc
Can we remind you that used printer cartridges
of all types can be recycled? So too can mobile
fones & chargers – even if they are
not working. We have people abroad who will purchase
old “working” mobiles – the
cash then being used for projects. Why not have
a browse at home, speak to your colleagues or
arrange for your company to collect old cartridges
& fones and let us have them for recycling.
LightForce International has a company that will
pay for these items.
INDIA
- New India Church of God
Reports from our friends at NICOG advise that
they have expanded their work into Burma (Myanmar).
89% of the population is Buddhist. In 1966 Burma
sent all missionaries out of the country –
no one is now allowed to stay and work there.
NICOG has worked in Burma through nationals for
a number of years. Pastors have trained in India
and returned. There are now 7 churches and a children’s
home under NICOG’s care.
Street children continue to be fed as this
vital work continues in Bombay. The village
mission teams are continually active taking
good news to the poor of India’s rural
villages. It is amazing that so many have never
had opportunity to hear the gospel even one
time.
- Indian Gospel Mission
We have a number of volunteers going to Chennai
to work with Jacob Williams and his dedicated
team who continue to provide care for around 150
children. This includes a team of 16 from All
Souls Langham Place, London. George visited the
church to speak to the team recently. The smile
on the faces of the children in the homes hides
the scars of the past that so many of them have
suffered. LightForce International continues to
partner with IGM to serve the needs of these boys
and girls. If you want to go as a volunteer please
contact our office.
The work of IGM is diverse – including
3 children’s homes, bible school, medical
mission, non -food items for the poor and skills
training.
AFRICA
Kenya –
There are 97 children in the Tumaini Day Nursery
in Mombasa. Through our sponsorship programme
we pay for the pre primary education of these
children. Once they have completed their time
in Day Nursery they have a good foundation to
progress to the primary school – all being
run by our friends and partners Glyn & Jane
at Education for Life. Thank you to all who have
supported this project in recent years.
Sudan
We have expanded our work from Uganda over the
border. We have started supporting a project to
establish churches in southern Sudan. Ray Abila
is a Ugandan preacher with a heart and passion
for the Sudanese. Politically southern Sudan has
been a very troubled area for many years with
different rebel factions extremely active –
including the LRA from Uganda. Ray has planted
3 churches and with support from friends in the
UK and LightForce International he is spending
3 weeks out of every 5 weeks working there. We
also have requests to provide humanitarian assistance
to 1000’s of needy people.
The local government in Sudan is very supportive
of our work. In two places we have been offered
land upon which to develop other facilities.
The great need at present is to cover the short
fall in support for Ray’s travels every
five weeks. For this we need an additional £75
each month. We have 3 pastors overseeing the
new churches and we would like to support them
with £20 a month each. If there are individuals
or churches that would like to get involved
with these new projects in Sudan then please
let us know.
Uganda –
At the end of 2005 we completed our project with
World Food Programme. It was a Social Support
Programme that included feeding, informal education
and skills training. The security situation in
Lira has improved enormously this year. 1000’s
of displaced people are now returning to their
original homes. As a result the urban camps where
we worked since 2004 have seen a massive reduction
in population. In line with other organisations
the focus of our work will now be in rural camps
where we expect to commence some new projects.
So what about Lira town then? Are we still
active there? To some degree the answer is yes!
1. |
We still provide
the District with population figures from
the camps. |
2. |
There are 250 identified
children with special needs. Our team
are visiting them on a regular basis.
Half of them are epileptics. Although
medicines are available most have never
been assessed and the hospital informs
us that out of date medicine for epilepsy
is destroyed regularly because nobody
is getting it. We have children with a
variety of needs including paralysis,
cerebral palsy, deaf & dumb and mental
health problems to highlight just a few.
One of the things we are discovering is
that many children have behavioural problems
due to parenting issues. |
Since the 8th of May we have begun to work
in Otuke County where there is eight camps.
This area is over 2 hours hard drive from Lira
town along a very poor road. We plan to establish
a sub office there and a base for our teams
to sleep for 2 or 3 nights each week. The pilot
project with UNICEF, which we mentioned in our
last newsletter, has finally been approved.
For the next three months we will concentrate
our activity in the camps of Orum and Aliwang.
We have identified almost 1,600 children 3-5
yrs old in these two camps. Our goal is to work
with the displaced population to establish Early
Childhood Development facilities in both camps
so that these children can learn through play
and facilitate their entry to the primary education
system.
In partnership with an organisation from Belgium
we are also going to be distributing non- food
items to households that are returning home.
These materials include treated mosquito nets
(along with training on how to use them), blankets,
school bags containing educational materials
and buckets, bowls, pots & pans for household
use.
We are still awaiting confirmation of the approval of a further project to supervise the repair
of 27 health centres and deliver medical equipment
& medicines along with training in how to
manage and use the provisions correctly.
The project to train prisoners in tailoring
in Lira Central Prison has, after a long wait,
finally been approved along with a budget to
supply 30 new sewing machines, purchase cloth
and provide four teachers to run a 3 months
training course. Once trained these prisoners
will produce garments for children to wear in
their return to school.
EXPANSION of FACILITIES
First we have extended the facility at our
base in Lira town to provide more office space.
This took us almost 3months from January until
March. We did the work so as not to have to
rent additional space off site to handle the
administration of the additional projects.
CONTAINER– you may find
it hard to believe that the container we loaded
in Milton Keynes on 28th December 2005 is still
sat in customs in Kampala. It contains vitally
needed tents, blankets and clothing as well
as a LandRover that will help us access the
remote new areas in which we have commenced
work. Delay in shipping by P&O, the February
elections and subsequent changes in policy mean
that we will have to pay taxes to import these
goods. Well we sold our truck and trailer –
so that will pay most of the envisaged £6000
bill. Any gifts towards this tax bill will be
appreciated. It’s hard to believe that
governments collect tax on relief goods –
but sadly it is sometimes the case.
VOLUNTEERS– we have over 60 people
committed already to serve with us during 2006.
If you are planning to join us this year then
be quick – certain parts of the year are
already full. Contact Jenny at the office for
details of opportunities available.
Thanks once again for all your kindness
and generous support,
With best wishes
George R Ridley
LightForce International
